A ‘Survivor’ from S.A.

Shiver me timbers! At long last, after 13 installments of hit show “Survivor,” a contestant from San Antonio will be among those seen struggling to stay on the island, eating bugs and the like and vying for that $1 million prize.

Rita Verreos, a single mother, former beauty contestant, honors graduate of UCLA and native of Venezuela, will be featured on the show’s 14th edition, “Survivor: Fiji.” It premieres at 8 p.m. Feb. 8 on CBS.

Her profile can be found at CBS.com; click on the brunette with the pretty smile and braids.

The 38-year-old, who now makes her living as a trainer for beauty pageant contestants with a company called Image-in and as a performer in TV ads, lives on S.A.’s North Side with her two children. Her son and daughter, ages 10 and 6, attend elementary school in the North East School District.

An interesting tidbit: She’s the second reality TV contestant in one family. Her brother, Nick Verreos, a fashion designer who lives in Los Angeles, competed on last season’s “Project Runway” on Bravo.

Though the actual “Survivor” filming is over, Rita is under contractual obligation not to do interviews at this time — except for CBS. However, I did catch up with her parents, James and Raquel Verreos, who moved to the Alamo City a couple of years ago to be near their daughter and help with their beloved grandchildren.

Her dad said Rita was both nervous and excited when she learned she had been chosen for the show. “She got a little giddy about it,” James said, adding they did their best to bolster her. She was on and off, he said, happy and “scared. She didn’t know whether she wanted to go.”

It helped that her mom and dad said they’d watch her kids during her absence. They described Rita as being strong and smart with a solid character — and, as her dad put it, “a beautiful body.” The better to show off in those infamous “Survivor” bikinis, right?

Her best preparation for “Survivor,” dad James said, is being “a beautiful mother.” He said she also mainly keeps fit by staying active with her athletic children. “When people ask what gym she attends, she says, ‘come play with my kids,’ ” he said, chuckling.

She was born in Venezuela during her dad’s long term with the diplomatic services. James, a St. Louis native, is retired from his most recent post as commercial attaché to the U.S. ambassador in Caracas, Venezuela.

Rita moved to San Francisco when she was 8 and attended college there and in Los Angeles. Later, she moved to Mexico City, where she settled in with her then-husband for 11 years. She was a contestant in the Miss Venezuela pageant and did fashion modeling.

Her international background has remained very much alive. She speaks four languages — English, Spanish, Italian and French. She built her current business from scratch, her dad said, after getting divorced and moving to San Antonio in 2003.

She absolutely loves San Antonio and the Spurs and attends games with her son, he added.

According to CBS, she was chosen through “Survivor’s” latest method of recruiting contestants rather than asking for applications. One tool used is the Internet; myspace.com, for instance, has proven to be a big help. Through these methods, the show manages to get a more diverse cross-section of applicants.

That certainly seems true of the latest entries; there seems to be an unusual number of Hispanics and Asians amid the chosen castaways. The ages seem to be of a wider range, too. I found it refreshing to find four people in their 40s and 50s along with the younger men and women.

Best of all, the Alamo City is being represented. . . finally. The closest we’ve come to an area “Survivor” contestant was Kel Gleason of Fort Hood, and he was voted off almost right away.